The prevalence of hazardous drinking is elevated among returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan wars, particularly among returning veterans and those with co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Understanding the reasons for drinking as well as motivations for change can tremendously improve intervention efforts. Unfortunately, little is currently known regarding the motivations that might facilitate or hinder change among returning veterans. In the current study, we examined returning veterans' reasons to change or not change drinking through analysis of responses to an open-ended decisional balance exercise. We included 366 returning veterans selected from a larger sample of returning veterans enrolled in a web-based randomized-controlled trial of an online intervention for alcohol use and PTSD. We used qualitative content analysis to systematically classify responses into categories through identification of common themes. Top reasons to change/reduce drinking included reducing negative physical effects, improve finances, and expected social/interpersonal benefits of reduction or abstaining. Top reasons to continue drinking/not change included facilitation of social interaction, promote sleep, and reduce tension. The current study adds to our phenomenological understanding of motivations for and against changing drinking among returning veterans. Whereas many motives were consistent with those of nonveteran samples, others appear to distinguish, and are uniquely salient among, returning veterans (e.g., to manage sleep and PTSD symptoms). These results provide insight into key assessment and intervention points regarding hazardous drinking among returning veterans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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了解支持和反对危险饮酒的动机以及退伍军人的变化。

在伊拉克和阿富汗战争返回的退伍军人中，尤其是在返回的退伍军人和同时出现创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 症状的退伍军人中，危险饮酒的流行率有所升高。了解饮酒的原因以及改变的动机可以极大地改善干预工作。不幸的是，目前对于可能促进或阻碍归国退伍军人改变的动机知之甚少。在当前的研究中，我们通过分析对开放式决策平衡练习的反应，研究了退伍军人改变或不改变饮酒的原因。我们纳入了 366 名返回的退伍军人，这些退伍军人是从更大的返回退伍军人样本中选出的，这些退伍军人参加了一项针对酒精使用和 PTSD 的在线干预的基于网络的随机对照试验。我们使用定性内容分析通过识别共同主题系统地将响应分类。改变/减少饮酒的主要原因包括减少对身体的负面影响、改善财务状况以及减少或戒酒的预期社会/人际关系益处。继续饮酒/不改变的主要原因包括促进社交互动、促进睡眠和减轻压力。目前的研究增加了我们对支持和反对改变退伍军人饮酒动机的现象学理解。尽管许多动机与非退伍军人样本的动机一致，但其他动机似乎可以区分归来的退伍军人，并且在其中尤为突出（例如，管理睡眠和 PTSD 症状）。这些结果提供了关于返回退伍军人危险饮酒的关键评估和干预点的见解。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2020 APA，保留所有权利）。